One Thousand Dark Winters
by ValerieCail
Summary: After the original fall of Discord almost 9 centuries have passed. Luna may find her place, and her power, but can Celestia relax yet? Rated T for some battlefield gore. Sequel to The Rise and Fall of the Alicorn.


Weeks went by, followed by months, and years, then decades, even centuries. Things were back to normal, only Celestia and Luna had switched roles. Celestia, in her true form, became, essentially, the sole ruler of Equestria. She always reassured Luna that they ruled together, but none of the ponies recognized her for it. They respected her, of course. They bowed for her, and called her princess, but as soon as troubled reared its head, everypony turned to Celestia.

The night shined on brilliantly, and as usual, no one noticed, but me. I always appreciated the stars, and while my loyalties remain with the princess of the Sun, I always considered myself a bigger fan of the night. There was something about the vastness of space that intrigued me. Something about knowing all of the stars are just other suns in far away galaxies. I wondered sometimes how it was Celestia was the stronger Alicorn when Luna could command millions of suns, and Celestia only the one. Though, I was usually preoccupied, and more often wondered how I should know the truth about the stars, and I sometimes thought I might be wrong in this part of the universe.

I didn't even know how I came across the information that there were other parts of the universe. How was it that I believed in the celestial bodies, when the rest of the ponies believed them to be small dots high in the sky of Equestria? Did the Ponies believe the planet to be flat as well?

"Good midnight, Luna." I trotted by her and sat next to a telescope, pressing my eye against it. "That is one beautiful constellation."

It was a constellation representing the fall of Discord, who spent had spent the last millennium or so soaking up the weather in the royal garden.

"Thank you, Doctor!" She blushed as I complimented what I considered to be her greatest work yet. She had obviously been working on it all of this time, and chose tonight to unveil it to the unappreciative eyes of the public.

"Luna," I went to sit by her side. "You've been so sad the last few days. Is there anyway I can help?"

she shook her head.

"Nopony can help Us." I could see tears pooling in her eyes. It wasn't often she talked to anypony about her problems. She seemed happy enough most of the time. "Our sister gets all of the glory! She always has! She is the better pony and We are a nopony with no leadership talents! Doth thou know Our sister can raise and lower the moon? We cannot touch the sun! Why is she so much better than Us when We work so much harder than she does?"

I frowned, and draped my front leg over her shoulder. Any other time I would have smiled at the speech Luna had adopted from the Equestrian aristocracy. If I had thought it more interesting I would look into why it changed, but I wasn't bothered with it, and chose to ignore it anyway.

"She's not better than you, Luna." I said. "She's merely found her place in life. It's not her fault the ponies see her in a positive light. You still have to find your place, but when you do. You'll be able to see exactly what I do."

"We do not blame our sister, or rather, We are no longer angry with her." She explained. "What is it that you see, Doctor?"

"A beautiful mare who is kind, but was mislead throughout her life. You'll make it Luna. You've shown so much progress."

She smiled at me, and I returned it happily.

"It is badly enough We cannot touch Our armour." She shook her head. "I feel ashamed to be wearing this awful silver around my army. I long for Nightmare."

I hardly noticed her break in speech, but instead thought back nine hundred years. In the last battle against Discord her armour was cursed so that if she were to wear it, she would forever become Nightmare Moon, and Luna would be trapped inside her forever. Even in his stone prison Discord had left his mark on the us.

"Doctor, We are glad to have a friend as you." Luna smiled sweetly. "It makes living in this lonely world a little more bearable."

Her words stuck with me as I retreated to my chambers. It was nights as these that I missed the bed I shared with Celestia. She was a reminder that all of the suffering Luna did would eventually come to a stop. Harmony, the dragon spirit, had told her Luna would find happiness when she was released from the shadow of the moon.

I knew better than anypony that I could change anything in life with choices. I often told myself things from future times, and it changed the things that happened. In doing so I often erased the times that I went back in the first place. If I averted the crisis that caused me to go back, I wouldn't need to. Sometimes, though, the crisis could not be averted, and I simply gave myself a few hints to help brace against the disaster. For every time I remember going back to visit myself in time there are, at least, two visits that I never make in my current self.

I never questioned how it worked. I just understood it. It was something deeply engrained within me that I couldn't escape, and had a hard time explaining in this pony language. Was there another language? What language could I possibly be speaking of? All I know is the language of Equestria.

"_People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect," _I once told Celestia with all of the appropriate hoof gestures._ "but actually, from a non-linear non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big bowl of wibbly wobbly timey wimey... stuff." _

_"That last bit got away from you." _She had giggled into her hoof.

"_Have I said that to you before?" _I asked off hoofedly.

I felt it then, and impending sense of Deja-vu. It was a strange sense, for me, because if of its dual meaning.

Deja-vu also happens to be the closest things I can get to describing the feeling I get when something in time can't be fixed. Sometimes, though rarely, I'll go back and tell myself things, and when I get to the moment where I could change it, I feel it in my gut. I can't change this point in time or something disastrous would happen.

Heartache always ensued. I had to watch somepony die, or something awful happen knowing full well that I could fix it.

I didn't know why, but I was suddenly upset. I felt the loss of something that had never happened to me. The fate of another pony pressed into my mind, and I felt his pain. I wept to myself in my bed as I was crushed by the loss of friends I didn't have, the family I had lost, and lost civilizations I knew nothing about.

I fell asleep dreaming vicious nightmares of the ones I hadn't ever lost.


End file.
